Cinderella Style
by cdgal
Summary: A greeting from the authoress: Cdgal wishes you all a Happy 2010! And let's not forget this is only an unedited version, shall we?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Ever since her friends and ladies in waiting - Princess Ami of Mercury, Princess Minako of Venus, Princess Makoto of Jupiter and Princess Rei of Mars - returned from the blue planet few days ago, the Moon Princess had the eager to visit that garden which they had been discussed lately.

"How beautiful can that garden be?" Princess Serenity had asked. At first, she couldn't find what was so interesting about their so-called breathless garden since she had one of her own, but when her friends explained everthing they saw in the garden, especially those couldn't find on the moon, such as roses, Serena immediately had stars in her eyes.

Because the Moon Princess was forbidden to step a foot on the Earth, she had to think of a plan in order to not to get caught she had been sneaking. Therefore that would only meant one solution, and that was...

"Yawn Mother, may I be excused? I'm tired." The princess gave a fake yawn, which went unnoticed by everyone, including her mother's advisor, Lady Luna. She couldn't find a reason why Lady Luna had been so strict to her ever since she was a child, yet she didn't want to know why because she knew Lady Luna cared for her dearly.

It was no wonder why her daughter was tired because it was past midnight, and Queen Serenity knew her daughter well that it was far beyond her daughter's bedtime. After giving her daughter permission to leave, Queen Serenity began to discuss the matter on hand, which couldn't be discussed when the person was there because she knew her daughter would strongly against that idea.

On the other side inside the chamber, Princess Serenity went to bed sleeping because as soon as she switched off the lights, Lady Luna came to check on her. Although with the coast was clear, Princess the princess was still lying on bed sleeping... until ten minutes later, she got up for it was time to precede her plan. Discreetly, she enchanted a spell and after a silver light had engulfed her, the Moon Princess was nowhere to seen.

"Where am I? What is this place?" The Moon Princess was now confused, because the place she was now was not where she thought she was - the garden. Observing the surrounding more thoroughly, she realised it was a chamber! It seemed that it was someone's chamber, for there was an elegant four-post bed. Yet that was not what surprised her the most. It was her spell... which had never gone wrong before! Now panicking, Princess Serenity tried to find a way out, and to her relief there was an exit. However, just before she could reach there, a footstep was heard. Quickly making up her mind, the princess raced to the bed and placed a sheet above her, praying.

A loud bang was heard indicated that the room was slammed opened, and the princess could feel a heavy weight laid beside her. Immediately, she knew it was absolutely so terrible idea because as soon as she tried to sneak off the bed, who-ever it was grabbed her wrist and pulled her closely. The fact that she wasn't able to see the owner's face was because not only the shadow of who-ever it was was blocking her view, but also it was dark inside there.

While blaming on her stupidity, the Moon Princess stayed where she was... and what she didn't know was that she had made the biggest mistake in her whole life. She was nearly freaked out but was able to stop herself from crying out loud when that person who-ever it was started to kiss her all over her face. It was her first kiss, for God's sake! She didn't want to give her first kiss away like what was happened now. It was supposed to be a perfect kiss, soft and gentle... but not this, rough and brutal! This was not supposed to be happening, she told herself, and therefore using all of her strength in attempt of pushing the person away and HARD.

Alas, the plan was back-fired because the more she pushed, the harder the kiss she'd got. Yet she didn't have the plan of giving up nor giving in, so that made her totally helpless at this point of time. Biting her lower lip to bleed, which might be her regret on sneaking down or avoid making a sound in case she could get caught by someone else, Princess Serenity lost her innocence that night...

Princess Serenity, now in her own chamber, cried silently until the sleepiness came to her. It was near dawn by the time she returned to the moon, with her puffy red eyes. That had been her worst experience ever, and because of such a horrible event, she had made a promise to herself that she would never ever sneak off again no matter what the cost was.

End of Prologue 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1 

Next morning

Prince Endymion of Earth woke up from the slumber of his, having no memories of what-so-ever on the night before. He had something to think about, rather than trying to make the headache away, of why did he got so drunk the other night. The announcement... yeah, something about an announcement his father, Solaris, the King of Earth spoke of... Right! The engagement. He had had to marry this girl from outsider who he would care less for. That was it. An announcement of his engagement with a girl, an outsider, no less.

Rolling to his the other side to shield the sun away from his sleepy eyes, Prince Endymion gave some more thoughts, still laying down on his comfy bed... but then did he realised that there was something behind kept stinging him on the back on his supposed comfy bed.

" What the-" It was indeed one of the 'what-the's as the prince picked up a piece of an earring. That's right, folks. ONE piece of AN earring. Now, how did THAT gotten onto his bed, and why there was blood on his bed-sheet? Yup, that was another 'what the-'. When I meant blood, it just wasn't a teeny-weeny tiny one drop, but a pool of it. And another 'what the-' was... why was he naked? Seeing his heavily weight armour off him was a relief, but on the ground it laid with his pants was definitely not. NOW he really really wanted to know what was happening the night prior. And the only clue he had? Well... let's just say it was one side of earring-set with dangling moon underneath, and nothing more.

Well, what can me, the author give him, but wish him good luck?

End of Chapter 1(?)... Nah!

" Have anyone seen Serenity?" It was past 12 noon, yet there still no sight of her daughter, who supposed to be having lunch with her - the Queen of Moon. She thought it was odd enough that Serenity would miss her lunch. Breakfast, maybe, but definitely not lunch. The answer she received, however, was so much a disappointment as none of the asked staff, advisors, or even friends had seen the young princess.

' Where is that daughter of mine?' She wondered. Her daughter wasn't at her favourite garden, neither was she with her 4 guardians. Now, where would she be? Then there came a thought. Masaka... Decided to go and checked along with that 'masaka' thought, the queen took a peck inside the door of her daughter's chamber, and what she saw was not what she had expected.

" What on selene is going on?" Was that really a chamber at all, doubted the queen. She had never ever witnessed a room that was so... much in a mess; as if there were more than 3 tornadoes came intruded.

A 'nothing' came as immediate before the princess could stop herself slipping it. She had never got to understand the statement of why someone spoke too soon would soon regret, but now she sure did. The rose on the eyes-brows told the princess that the Queen was in no state of believing her. Who would believe that 'nothing' as the moon princess was crouching on her bed, the apparent sign if in search of something?

If it was usual Queen, she would have sigh and question at the ungraceful sight. However, the queen wasn't being herself. No, not today. Somehow she was more of distressed. Of what Princess Serenity didn't know.

" Mother?"

The concerned call zapped the Queen back to reality. She had been depth in thought, of how to break the news to her one and only daughter. The news of her betrothed to the Earth prince. Knowing her child, the princess would not acclaim of such account, neither would joy by it. Yet Queen Serenity would not abandon such matter as the ruler of the Moon, just for the sake of the daughter's happiness. Decided she needed more time to reconsider what she was supposed to do, the Queen spoke " Meet me in the study room once you had your lunch." with authority before walked away from the door.

" You are late, dear." Queen Gaia of Earth, also known as Prince Endymion's mother didn't need to turn around to see who the newcomer was for she along with her husband, King Solaris, were at the dining room awaited for the prince's arrival approximately an hour ago.

The action of the prince's dragging himself exhaustedly to one of the un-occupied seat before slumping on it told the rulers of the Earth that their sons hadn't gotten over his slumber from the previous night. That, however, was one of the assumptions guessed correctly. Both the Queen and the King would have know the other assumption if either one of them was there to witness the incident this morning. Had it been mention that both his parents loved to complex his life even more, ESPECIALLY his father, WHO just have to bring up last night's bombshell? No? Well, He just did.

" I heard the princess is a beauty, just like her mother." It wasn't an everyday thing to see the King praised someone, young ladies especially. Princess or no princess aged in between 15-25 was still considered young for King Solaris. Since the Moon princess was in that category, so no surprise there.

The royal family knew the father wouldn't stop talking once he had started a topic, and so the prince turned to his mother, pleading her not to worsen his day as it had ever been. He knew his mother had heard the silent prayer for she was sipping her glass gracefully - the sign of 'alright'.

" I wonder how well she is taking it..." Was the last sentence he heard before rubbing his temple as he felt another headache came throbbing in.

Princess Serenity slumped on her bed. What'd she done to deserve this? Whatever fault she did, this punishment was too much. She thought her mother, the Queen, understood her well enough to know what she married for was for love, not for responsibility.

Flashback

" But, mother-"

" No more buts, Serenity. My decision is final. You will betroth to Prince Endymion of Earth on your birthday. No more arguments." If the Moon Princess hadn't leave so soon, she would have seen the sorrow look on the Queen's face behind the by-now clicked shut door. Princess Serenity hadn't had a choice to make because she would turn 16 soon, and that was the exact age for a princess to be married as it had been a tradition for the Moon Kingdom.

" I am sorry, Serenity." The Queen was sympathised at her daughter's already retreating form. She hated the tradition of having an arranged marriage as well, only the difference was that her husband soon-to-be was her childhood friend and was a prince, of course. Taking one frame off her table, Queen Selene asked the smiling man in the photo, "Tranquility, had I make the right choice by marrying off our daughter to Gaia's son?", with a solitary tear won the threatening in her eyes.

End of Flashback

The more the princess given in to her thoughts, the more her tears were threatening to flow. It wasn't her arranged marriage was the only thing in her current mind, but also was the little 'accident' last night. What would her mother think if she found out her own daughter wasn't as pure as she thought to be? Would her friends detest her over her stupidity? Would this Kingdom disgrace her because she had lost her virginity to someone other than her soon-to-be husband? On top of that, she didn't hate it... if the stranger wasn't so rough to her.

Peeking out beyond her window from her position, Princess Serenity of the Moon absently rubbed her one of by-now bear ear lobe after sitting up. How the dawn coming into view reminded her of the event from the prior night, and that was about the same time, yet oppositely, to realise she had lost one of her earring-set. That earring with dangling moon underneath was her first, and the only earrings she owned. It had been with her for so long that she wished not to substitute with another new one even if she had a collection of that particular piece of jewelry. She didn't know which was worse: the lost of her innocence, or of her most-treasured earrings, or the acknowledgement of having a betrothed much later on the day.

End of Chapter 1

Fallen-night: Oh, in case you've been wondering: Serenity had her piece of earring kept away, since she had lost another piece of it. Ok, now that I've updated, and yes, I know, it takes way too long, but I hope it's worth waiting. I can't make promise when the next chapter will be, but what I can promise to all readers out there is that the story is just getting starting to be very very interesting. I put my heart in it. So please, drop your reviews or comments for it while I'm getting started on the upcoming chapter... No, wait. I've already getting started, but don't expect it'll be up that soon though.

Another good news is that the chapter 7 for 'A Strength Called Friendship' will be up pretty soon, once I take another editing to it. The earliest could be within next couple of days; if not, it's within the month, and THAT's something I can make guarantee of it.

Another thing, please spare me with my poorly grammars?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2 

Inside the chamber, Prince Endymion stared sighly at the swinging jewelry. 2 weeks. It had been 2 weeks ever since this tiny winy thing stung him on his supposed-to-be comfy bed. No maids or other ladies he questioned during that period owned the oddly elegant looking earring piece. It was as if someone had given a magically snap from somewhere, and 'pop' there it was from nowhere.

" Who are you?" He asked the by now palm-resting earring more than to himself. If only he could find the owner, otherwise what happened fortnight ago would remain as a mystery. He really had considered this mission impossible would be quite a challenging one for he had to track a zillion of female species down to one, but never conscious that this hide-and-seek search was that much of wearing out. Holding a girlie earrings and asked one quarter of the whole female population had they missing a particular possession somewhere was embarrassed already, but it was nothing compared with asking them to show him some jewelry of their own, which was even more worst. He wasn't that low, neither was that pervert. Heck, he wasn't even like that. Not at all. Absolutely, positively, utterly a no.

A door swung the door so abruptly that the young prince almost slid himself off the couch he was currently occupied on. Slipping the earring behind his back pocket, Prince Endymion scowled at the criminal by the name called Jedeite for causing his heart leapt a thousand mile off his chest. There, at the entrance, barging in Jedeite, full-named Jedeite Jerkins James, was one of the four generals served for, as well as of the closest friend of His Royal Highness Endymion Earl Elysian.

" Your Highness." Came next behind from the blond general was a general of wisdom (out of the 4), General Malachite Malcolm Michael. Unlike that a-little-too-friendly commoner, the obedient and loyal general beckoning his head slightly. As a courtesy, of course.

" Please, Mal. No formalities here." The ebony-haired prince kept the same position he was as before, leg crossing and half-of arm crossing, only this time was rubbing his temple, instead of swinging the hidden earring. Not like he hated being called by the title, but hey, this wasn't a situation where formality was needed since they were closed in their toddler year.

" That is what we have been telling him." Followed by a handsomely General Nephrite Neil Nelson, who had a passion for astrology and for bakery. Now, that was the thing you didn't see in most of the men out there.

" Yeah, your Royal Highness Endymion." Mocked the last but not least general and friend, Zoizite ZoИ Zack, a feminine physical appearance who had a compassion heart, as well as was a book-lover. Yet that didn't mean that he was a she though. Uh-uh, nope. Definitely not a she. Although he did look like a girl, but no. He was a he, not a she... Oh, had I mentioned Zoizite loved to keep his hair long?

" Just out with it, boys. " A strong frustration hinted in the prince of Earth's deeply sigh. He really didn't mind of their usual barging-in to his room, but not when he had something in his mind like just now, a minute ago. It was something he wished to keep for himself for now. For instance, a certain piece of dangling moon earring.

" 'Out with' what?" Jadeite deliberately asked. Of course he knew what his prince and friend meant, but if that meant ruining the fun he had now, well, he would just better keep pretending he didn't know a thing.

" I assume you have some news for me, from my parents' maybe?"

" Do you believe me if I say we come and visit you as a friend?" A dead-panned 'no' was the answer to Zoizite's 'good' intention before forging a pain look plastered on his expression, saying. " Oh, I am hurt. Our prince does not consider us as his friend..."

" Your Highness, we were ordered by your parents, Your Majesty and Her Highness, to assist you regarding to the arrival of Her Grace, Princess Serenity SelИne Serena, and her 4 guardians this coming week."

" Princess... Who?" It was no wonder Prince Endymion had slipped his mind on his marriage to the princess by the name of Serenity SelИne Serena since he cared too much for the searching for the owner of the earring piece in his hand. He groaned at the repeated name as the memory of cruelty crawled back to him slowly. Wait an Earth moment... Did Malachite say what he thought he'd just said? " They will be arriving here this week?"

" Yes, Endymion." Jadeite ticked at the question. What was the matter with Endymion lately? Why he wanted them to repeat every word they said? Hadn't he heard the news? It'd been all over the palace for a whole week now. Even on every media, for Earth's sake. Thus, he asked. " Geez, what had you been for the past week? Daydreaming?"

" I am not. I am just..." Feeling insulted by the comment, Prince Endymion struck back... just enough time stopping him in the nick of time. He couldn't let them know what he'd been doing for the past 2 weeks, and on that night. He'd like to keep that for himself, thank you very much. He elaborated nothing more than just a 'just' to classify that as his reason as he, a very much obvious, had completely out of reasons.

" I think it is more than just a 'just', Endymion." Unsatisfied with the not-so-a-reason reason, Zoizite and the rest conjoined Jadeite asking a bullet of questionnaire to the poor highly annoyance prince.

Some distance away from the blue planet, a group of 5 girls was gathered around inside the palace on the moon. They were having a heat conversation on their very first soon to-be visited to the planet Earth inside a royal chamber that was belong to the moon princess, Princess Serenity SelИne Serena. Those bestest friends of the princess of the future throne to the Moon Kingdom were the princesses of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Mars. Each face showed their own enthusiasms on how they were looking forward to the trip to the planet of which it was said to have a most breath-taking garden ever, except for one.

" Is there anything wrong, Sere-chan?" It wasn't like Princess Rei Rae Raye didn't like not to be in the discussion. Oh, she was as enthusiastic as the other princesses in the room, but then her friend as well as her princess, was so VERY out of the character today. She, the princess, wasn't as enthusiastic as they were; neither was in her usual self. The usual princess of Moon would have a cheerful sweet smile on the face when hearing upon to have an opportunity to visit the long-awaited planet and its garden. Who-ever was familiar with the princess's nature would know the princess was the brightest girl ever known, on the Moon Kingdom. She had noted the new change in the Princess of the moon for some times now, but shrugged it off as she thought it was the betrothed that caused it.

" No, No. " Princess Serenity answered a little too quickly. She couldn't let the Princess of Mars know she had been caught off by her question, or had she? " I am perfectly fine."

Princess Rei knew too well the mask behind that face, and why would she know? That'd just had to thank the predestination that amalgamated them. The princess didn't need to know her lies had been exposed as she spoke, thought the friend.

" ... Speaking of which, Rei-chan, who was the man who we caught you spoke to?"

" I do not know what you are talking about, Makoto-chan." Amazed herself how the long raven-haired princess managed to get hold of the conversation she was half listening to, not missing a beat to answer the question asked by her high pony-tailed friend, Princess Makoto Manny Moore of Jupiter.

" Nice try, Rei-chan." Grinned a blonde princess in big red bow cheek-to-cheek. That princess was the princess of Venus, Minako Miranda Mina, also was the one to explain to the princess in 2 meat-balls on top, whom had a confusion expression on her pretty face.

⌠ It was General Jadeite, Minako-chan." Corrected the Mercurian Princess, Ami Amelia Ames, the name mis-spelled by Princess Minako. 'And who the Mercurian was General Jade?' The blue-haired princess sweat-dropped.

Heck, who cared about the General Jadeite whom Princess Rei had met, the priority they had to do for now was to decide how to present themselves for the day the 5 friends went together to the trip to Earth.

End of Chapter 2

Fallen-night: I know chessy names... but hey, it's not everyday you'll get to see the name that would come up with triple E, J, M, N, S and Z (for guys); and A, M, another M again, R and S (for girls) right? Man, I so love my brilliant creativity mind!! o

Here I would like to special thanks to -  
Chapter 1: Little Ler, PaulitaDani, serenity287, lovedlost, Dertupio, lilaznbunny and kymie29;

and

Chapter 2: supersaiyanx, hieiashke and Dertupio Thank you all for taking time to read and reviews my chapters.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3 

The royal visit was fast approaching, and soon enough the day finally came as the preparation had been all settled. The Terrain Royal was waiting at the portal ready to welcome their future in-laws along with the 4 royal generals. Each representative showed different emotions: such as the elders were beaming happily for a decade reunion, while the younger ones were looking forwards to meet the legendary princess and her ladies-in-waiting.

A large crash came at the promised place on the promised schedule at the arrival of the Lunarian Royal and the reunion finally came to view. The mothers of the prince and the princess, was expected, gave each other a bear hug before did the introduction, and that was how the two descendants to the thorns came across to.

In a typical fairy tale story, it was either a royal couple was love at first sight or was hate at first sight; however, this was not a typical story, neither was a fairy tale one, which meant it was neither love at first sight nor hate at first sight for this royal couple. They, instead, felt a strong yet unfamiliar feeling when their eyes made contact, as if they had met before, and yet this was their first encounter. The staring contest would have carry on if it was not a nudge from the prince's mother. Only then the prince snapped back to reality, before curtsied brought the princess to the garden with the generals followed suit. One by one, the group dispersed from the security room.

As it turned out that the royal couple stayed silent throughout the walk. The blizzard feeling they had previously, although not showed, did not die away, which had remarkably/distinctively haunted the duo still. If they were conscious enough, they would have realised this meeting in officially speaking was the first time being, but precisely speaking, it was fall on fortnightly and two days ago...

Even the elder royal had had enough with the maddening silent that flew around the young couple at the dining table. That had not been part of the plan the elder royal had in mind for the children of the two kingdoms were not the type to be wordless and modest. If the Plan A - a romance bloomed in the romantic garden - did not work well, then it was time to proceed Plan B - a lovey-dovey conversation between a romantic couple.

" How was the garden?" The Earth Queen moved her first pawn.

" It was great. I had never seen such a beauty before." The queen was proud at the answer given, but was disappointed at the same time because the person who took the bait was the Versian Princess, instead of the big fish - her daughter in-law to-be.  
" What a wonderful day today was, was it not?" The next attempter was King Solaris since his wife shot him the eye. The elder royal of the Earth had come to conclusion that they wanted no one to be their future daughter in-law, except for the one and only heir to the Moon Kingdom.

" Indeed it was, your majesty." Two disappointments were down as the next bait for this time was General Jadeite. Like before, but this time round was two puppies' eyes were turned to the last and final attempter, The Moon Queen - Queen Serenity, aka the mother of the big fish.

" Your majesties." On the skin the adults showed was cool and calm, but what was actually on the inside when the Moon Princess finally chose to speak? A victory and a big text 'Yes!'. Though the expression soon collapsed with the sound of two fall thuds' being replaced as she continued. " May I be excuse?"

End of Chapter 3 

Fallen-night: Muah ha ha ha!! What a best place to stop ч It was the funniest scene I'd ever written so far (that's in my opinion, of course), also was the fastest pace I ever worked on... completed the draft and typing in one day. First I must apologise for not uploading such a long time being, but with assignments, so lack of sleep, tests, and lack of sleep, fighting over the pc with my sisters, again lack of sleep, the one and only pc got bugged, and again lack of sleep. I'm pretty sure you all have a good imagination on my look for I haven't have a proper sleep since July, and just last week stayed totally awake for 2 days, but luckily not for straight. Still, not lucky enough that I'd still got class on the day. In spite of the fact that, I have forgotten where I've stop writing for my works for weeks and months, and the most frustrated one is that having the trouble drafting my chapters. What a bad author I am... TT plus wiping tears 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: mayday, mayday. It's Takeuchi Naoko and TOEI Entertainment that own Sailormoon; not me. I repeat. It's Takeuchi Naoko and TOEI Entertainment that own Sailormoon. Do you read me?

-- Chapter 4 --

Exhaustion came instantly as Princess Serenity closed the door to her chamber on Earth. She wasn't blind to notice the play performed by Queen Gaia and King Solaris during the dinner. It was so obvious that they tried to match-making her with their son, Prince whoever his name was. After dragging herself to the bed, she chose to sit at a corner before went limping on it. Recollected the thought on her arranged marriage, the Lunarian princess considered her positions that were available for her. Although she was aware that it was destiny that chose her and not her to destiny would sometime be frustrating, but that didn't mean she would escape from her fate, her mother didn't, so she might also shouldn't. She would become a queen in later life and as a queen who was to inherit a most powerful crystal eventually would embrace anything that came stumbled on. Seeing that there wasn't much of a choice, the future throne to the Moon Kingdom wished on something that wouldn't be possible, that was to born of an ordinary person.

Sitting up straight, the silver odango haired princess gazed on the moon. From her distance she could see her home, surrounded by white radiant light, seem so pure yet so lifeless unlike Earth's beauty, which she felt comfortable by. Could that be the reason why she was attracted to the blue orb when she took her first step on it, despite that her first visiting wasn't that pleasant? Also, why would she instead feel dИjЮ vu to a prince she had never met before when she was supposed to act as a selfish spoiled child in attempt to make him change his mind? Why would she feel something warmth and something passion when their eyes met?

'So many questions, so little answers.' she thought pathetically. Dazedly, her train of thought soon led her to the unforgotten night from a fortnight ago.

--

Just next door Prince Endymion, already retreating from a boring dinner and his highly annoyed parents, was lying on his bed half naked. It wasn't his fault that he didn't conversant with Princess whoever her name was, nor was purposely neglecting her throughout the dinner. He was merely uninterested that was all. He admitted she did look incredibly stunning for her age, but it didn't mean that firework would spark between them. Sure their perspectives would have change if both of them were to spend time together, get to know each other and then fall in love before their marriage.

'Ha, as if!' the Terrain prince snorted. Who was he trying to kid? It definitely wasn't himself because he had no intention to wed, not for now at least. He was pretty sure it wasn't the princess either for some reasons only she knew. Maybe she was to marry for love to someone she had dream of instead of him and by force. Not knowing how and why having such ideas, he just knew that she wasn't like any princesses he'd met in the past. Disregarding the odd thought he had for a certain princess, the ebony haired prince walked up to his desk. From one of the drawers he pulled out a silver plated jewelry box. The lid was crafted with a Lion - a symbolism of Courageous - and the box itself was embodied with roses, showing its elegance to the owner's eyes only. It was the prince's deceased grandmother, Queen Hera, to whom he was closest with, who once owned such a fine piece of ancient antique.

As an only child, the future king to Earth had been forced to study every history backgrounds in the universe (including the Moon Kingdom), was to knowledge in various subject fields (from Literature to Science), and to learn every possible fighting skills (mainly combats and sword handling), and more would have stuffed into his stressful life if it wasn't for his late grandmother be there to defense against his dad, King Solaris. Things started to change when his dad took advices from Queen Hera prior to her sudden yet knowing death. Now he was glad to have not only having his own free time but also capable of making his own decision. He too remembered that it was about the same time he gotten the antique, which he treasured ever since. It wasn't an empty or a decorative chest box, but was something importance like a ring for his future bride (a gift from Queen Hera) and an earring (from one fateful night) were kept inside.

"I will find you no matter what." picking up the jewelry, he said with determination before clenching it in his fist.

--

Everything remained the same for both the prince and the princess a week passed. The same attempt by the pair's parents to hook them up, the same distance kept between the future thrones to 2 kingdoms, and the regular thought on a missing piece of her jewelry (from the princess) and in finding of the owner of an earring that he possessed now (from the prince) every night.

In one day of the said period did her friends finally took notice of her empty lobes. Princess Serenity was so on the edge when she found herself trapped in their questions, but to her relief, they bought her stories and the question was never brought up again.

As if her week wasn't bad enough, her 4 ladies in waiting brought up a discussion of her yet-to-be love interest - the prince and his generals - before biding each other good night. The girls, even the uninterested Moon Princess, couldn't help to tease Princess Ami Amelia Ames, who went blushing every time a certain general was mentioned. Each of them would believe it was exactly an opposite of her reply, which was "We are nothing but friends". The reasoning was simple: no men, as far as they knew, had accomplished a task to gain the Mercurian Princess's interest, except for General Zoisite.

Princess Makoto Manny Moore, who came next, wasn't in denial how delightful she was to spend time with General Nephrite. The two would spend whole day discussed everything related to food and never got tired of it. Although she didn't really understand much about stars reading, but its origins and tales themselves already did fascinated her.

On the other hand, Princess Minako Miranda Mina was utterly attached to General Kunzite and it was his sense of responsibilities that was the cause to it. As a princess of love, she believed that her carefree would bring up his softer side.

Last but not least was Princess Rei Rae Raye, who she didn't find the game General Jadeite playing was amusing. Even though she had the killer look and body, the Martian Princess wasn't interest in any males. According to her, males were full of egotism, especially one certain general who didn't understand the meaning of backing off. If she was being accused of having a feeling for him, she was very sure it wasn't because of his charm nor his goofiness or his stupidity... It would consider a full circle of compatible love if their princess and prince would put their differences aside and started to get along.

--

As for Prince Endymion, he wasn't as lucky as Princess Serenity to break free from his guardians' constant chat on the girls. General Jadeite Jerkins James, who came first, had a thing for the Princess Rei of Mars. To him, that fiery temper of her just tempted him so much. The more rejection he got, the more attraction he felt for her and that was part of a sign being fallen head to toes over the hot tempered princess. There were other signs as well, such as arrogantly showing off his skill on archery whenever she and her friends were around.

General Kunzite Kyne Kane, on the other hand, would rather not to get himself involved in any relationship at all... If only he had a choice, that was. He wouldn't deny, even if he wanted to, that the Versian Princess was indeed his type and the law of paramagnetism would sound just right to describe the pair.

Following by was General Nephrite Neil Nelson, who he found himself slowly falling for Princess Makoto for her wisdom in cooking. They had been exchanging of recipes and star gazing during her stay and were the first couple (1) to share their kiss with.

The last general, General Zoisite Zoe Zack, claimed that he and Princess Ami were only friends, but the fact that his slipped tongue - she was cute when she was shy - had actually betrayed him. If the guys were thrown with a question of 'What would be the reason to cause people who usually stick their noses in front of a mountain of books and paper works compliment someone cute so out of blue and some more without a reason?' They would dare to say "It must be something that called L-O-V-E".

Since the wheel of destiny already starting to turn at their first encounters, it was only the matter of time those 5 pairs couples would surrender to a phenomenon called fate, whether or not it was against their will.

--End of Chapter 4--

(1): I know the first couple's supposed to be Serenity and Endymion, but they didn't know that. Well, Serenity did know, but she didn't know she had hers with the prince. Furthermore, she didn't mention a thing from that night (see Prologue) to any of her friends; neither the prince had the memory for the same night, so that made Makoto and Nephrite the "first".

Cdgal: There is something I must clarified is about the excuses Serenity gave to her friends about her empty lobe. The 'stories' is intended, as I making the princess's friends approached to her individually, so they wouldn't realize they had given 4 different answers. As of what the reasons were, I'll reveal in the future chapters.

Sorry for the long waits. I'll be posting my unbeta-ed chapters up while waiting for my editors/beta-readers. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

Cdgal: I have some good and bad news to announce. Actually, it has more bad news than good news. The bad news is... 1) this is a short chapter, with less actions. For those who prefer longer chapter and wanna see more actions, I'm sorry I haven't reach your expectations, but I'm trying. Really. I had encountered some difficulties on how to begin my Chapter 6, and then it sort of came naturally as I continued to write/type. I have poured a lot of efforts and time to have the chapter edited and edited all over again and did some research during the process; 2) I have to stop here due to the catching up of my freshly written Cinderella Style: Chapter 7. I've been going on and off writing it, picking up ideas in the process; pushing myself refocusing back to my school work, forcing a newly form idea outta from my mind... you name it.

The good news, however, are 1) I did promised I'll post the next chapter by this month, didn't I? So here you are, and hope that you have a good laugh to it since I killed who-know-how-many brain cells for the so-called matchmaking plan. 2) You may find the chapter's full of surprises as I, being an ESL (English as Second Language) student, used advanced vocabularies. Ok, maybe that's nothing to boost about for most of you, but to me, it's something new, something for a change. There's another surprise, but that you have to find it yourself. The answer lies in the chapter, and is very much easy to spot.

Ok, drummers, start your rolling!

* * *

Disclaimer: clear throat do not copyright; do not plagiarism; do not claim Sailormoon isn't the property of Takeuchi Naoko and TOEI Entertainment

--Chapter 5--

In order to have both Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion to feel the hidden attraction from within, the young royalties must corporate with fate otherwise it would just as useless as trying to stop the water from flowing. Unfortunately, that was exactly how the pair was: attempting to avoid meeting with one and another. Even if they had coincidentally collided at the hall, dropping a word or two was definitely what they did.

"That really was pathetic" and "They should have interacted with each other more" were their friends' replies if they were to ask of their opinions on the royal couple. The 4 official couples apparently shared a same idea to push them together, but it turned up to be backfired instead. If they were to ask to describe the result to their plan, their replies would be as identical as "It was a total disaster." Certain demonstration had enough said for the catastrophe.

"Sere, this is the garden we told you about. It is breath taking is it not?" informed the Marsian Princess.

Silent.

"These roses are so pretty," butted in Princess Makoto of Jupiter. "I wish Io Castle (1) had something like that."

Another persuasion to make the Moon Princess to talk failed. It, however, didn't mean that they would forfeit from the plan they were plotting. If the idea of bringing up the garden didn't appeal to their princess, then maybe the positive characters of the prince would.

"I wish Prince Endymion would share his secret how to polish a garden as such while maintaining his duties at the same time."

They would not give up even if they were at their third attempts.

"I heard he is a very romantic person." Princess Rei sighed dreamily.

No, not even at their forth attempts either.

"Speaking of which, do you happen to know where he is?" that final attempt would have seem to be working, if it wasn't for the devil himself merging from the opposite path where the girls were. Hence what the responses of 2 planetary princesses would be? That would be sending their most murderous looks to 2 innocence looking generals.

* * *

Prince Endymion, who had been on his bed reading "Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix" peacefully about half an hour earlier, was more than displeased after being dragged out from his room personally by his friends, Nephrite and Jadeite, and without giving him a chance to counter back one stupid reason.

"Come on, Endymion. Let's check out that rose you bred that day".

That precisely was their very first mistake, because for people who had the knowledge on botany they knew it took estimate a month for a rose to bloom. If the prince recalled the time correctly, he cultivated Alba (2) merely a week ago. It, therefore, would mean that they, the generals, had something underneath their sleeves.

Their second mistake was, only an insane person would go visit the garden in the middle of a night just to see a bloomless rose. As the generals' prince, it was his duty to educate them how to live as a normal person. To put it bluntly, it meant "go bug your girlfriends and leave me alone".

The last mistake they made was pretty much obvious. It appeared that they approached the garden at a wrong time from what he had interpreted from the scene that displayed in front of him. If looks could kill, then his poor friends would have died right on their spots at the honors of the most deadly glares from their girlfriends.

Sadly, the story didn't end there. Right after the snappy reunion, the generals had accidentally forgotten their purpose. Instead what they did was having a sweet moment with their own girlfriends, kindly abandoning the royal couple at the back. Not soon afterwards they broke into an argument, again forgetting the uncommunicative couple behind them.

Watching uninterested at the drama unfolded some couple yards ahead, the Lunar Princess and the Terrain Prince both yawned simultaneously before heading back to their respective chambers. Then for the next 20 minutes after making up did the planetary princesses and generals realized that they were the only ones left under a freezing night.

--End of Chapter 5--

(1): the name of one of Jupiter's moons

(2): a white rose

--


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: do not own Sailormoon; do not own anything that isn't mine

--Chapter 6--

Clang!

Clang!

The sound of two swords clashing one and another echoed through the Rose Garden. It was nothing out of ordinary to see Prince Endymion, along with his four generals - General Kunzite of Byakko (1), General Zoisite of Seiyuu (2), General Nephrite of Genbu (3) and General Jadeite of Suzaku (4) - practicing their skills on each other on such a fine weather like today. The five spent their most mornings practicing combats and sword fighting, and the duel would not call to stop until the winner was announced. That was exactly how it was for Prince Endymion and General Kunzite when the four ladies came to join them.

"Good morning, boys."

The greeting did distract the generals who were watching not far from the scene, but not to Endymion and Kunzite for they were too drawn in their duel to notice they had guests. It had been hours since the two were at each other throats, and still the winner was yet to determine. This was not new to the generals because both Endymion and Kunzite were considered as the finest swordsmen in a battlefield.

Each general had their own expertise. As the second General in Command, General Kunzite was often seeing carried his short sword around him. He was often to describe as having confidence and was loyalty to his Prince and comrades. He was also considered to be the most reliable person in the group.

General Zoisite, who came next, was the Head Commander under his realm, the Eastern part of Elysian. Although he wasn't the best fighter; but with his intelligence along with the skills of his companions, he was just as importance as the other 3.

General Nephrite, on the other hand, was professional in martial arts. He was the all year round champion in Genbu of the North, and none of the competitors had ever beaten his score so far. He might had seen as an unbeatable and a very strong-willed type of person; however, let's not deceived by his look, because underneath his masculine feature was a family-type (5) of man.

Last but not least was the youngest of the member, General Jadeite. He was someone who gave an eye for an eye to the offender if he felt provoked by; also he was someone who couldn't control of his temper, and usually it was people who he respected the most, like Kunzite, to cool him down.

"Give up, Kunzite. You have no chance winning against me."

The mentioned general didn't retort back to the prince's arrogance word, neither he felt insulted by it. Instead he was thinking of how to disarm his opponent. Prince or not, he treated his opponent without prejudice. He knew it would be disrespectful to the opponent if handicaps were given in a duel. He didn't want to play dirty tricks either because that would consider being disgracefully, not only to his character but to his country as well. It was some moment later had the struggled general gotten a chance to give an unexpected under kick, successfully earning a slight distraction from the prince to be pinned down.

"You were saying?" the general questioned, after thrusting his sword to the by-now-had-his-back-on-the-ground prince.

As for Prince Endymion, he wouldn't dare to move, now that the tip of Kunzite's sword was dangerously close to his throat. Even it was a small movement like gulping, would he be one step earlier than his intend to be with his late grandmother. Finally, the sword withdrew. Then he kindly accepted the general's outstretched hand before stood up to draw in their swords back into sheaths. Together, the men in their early 20s walked back to where the rest of the group was, with the prince dusting off the dust on his polo shirt on the way.

After walking back to the seat, Prince Endymion noticed they were one person short. Since he had no intention to have his friends' girlfriends labeled him as an uncaring betrothal, so he decided to ask where Princess Serenity was.

"She is in her room, still asleep."

Without realizing why, the prince glanced up to the second floor for seek confirmation on the answer given by Princess Minako. Rather than correcting her mistake, he kept a secret to what he saw. Somehow, he felt good to know what the others didn't acknowledge of, and only himself knew the truth. The truth of being the princess wasn't on bed, but instead was standing outside her balcony watching them quietly.

* * *

Before they knew it, there came the lunch hour. King Solaris sat on one side of the table; while his queen sat the other side, with the boys on her right; whereas the girls were on the opposite side. Each party had their own subject to talk about while the food was being served. It didn't take them a long time to have most plates turned emptied, from hunger they had been practicing intensively before then.

"How was lunch?" the Earth Queen, although not shown, asked fidgeting.

Only the thing was it wasn't easy to talk right into the core subject, without a leading question to begin with. However, the significance to it wasn't of any of those saying from above, but was of how to lead to a subject concerning her friend in 384403 km (6) distance.

"It was delicious, your majesty."

"Do you like it here?"

"As the matter of fact, we do."

"That is the overstatement of the year." the Venusian princess nodded. She couldn't agree more than what had been said.

"Minako-chan, it is supposed to be the 'understatement' of the year." hissed Princess Ami under her breath.

The Earth Queen couldn't help but to grin at the commotion that occurred in the Royal Dining Room. She was delighted to know the suggestion of sending them over to Earth wasn't a bad idea at the sight of seeing them making themselves comfortable in a new environment.

"You have been on Earth for one and half months now, have you not? Have your mother contact you by any chance?" King Solaris, as if on cue, decided to join the conversation.

Princess Serenity stiffed at the question. The sadness flashed within her eyes faded as quickly as it came. After putting her culinary down on the table, she answered with a softer tone.

"No, she has not, my Lord."

"That could not be helped then. Duties always the first priority, even for you right, my dear?" the Queen reassured the poor child before meeting her husband's silent gaze out of corner of her eyes. They shared a cryptic message only the two of them knew: they needed to talk; privately.

* * *

Outside, the high moon was peeking through one of the French windows. It wanted to know why a dark solitary figure was shutting himself inside the private room on the West Wing and what he was doing there. His handsome feature showed a sign of fugitiveness; and since he was so occupied by his own thoughts, he failed to hear a knock on the door.

On the other side of the door stood a Queen Gaia, who visited herself in when she heard no respond. She was worried for her best friend, who came and went on the same day, leaving the princess and her ladies in waiting at their care.

"How was she?"

King Solaris hadn't moved from his previous position. He was unfocused, but had his eyes fixed at the black curtain outside, where there were no stars to shine. He wasn't good at breaking news to people, especially when it came to a devastating one. Therefore he chose not to say a word, only to do a poor job at it by showing the grim in his eyes.

Queen Gaia's heart was thumping so hard that it suffocated her when the message - she hadn't been doing well - came through her. She would have tremble on the floor if she wasn't standing by the door that supported her.

"We have to help her. There must be something we can do. We can send our best healers..." her hoarse voice and the rattling off were the first sign of her nervous breakdown.

"No, there is not."

"But..." she wanted to say something, but her husband had beat her to it.

"She does not want our help. 'This is my destiny' was what she told me when I told her exactly the thing as you told me. I have made a promise, Gaia. I have made a promise to Tranquility before he died in my arms that I will watch over her for him, but now..." King Solaris was as desperate as his wife, wanted to help their friend. Yet at the same time, he felt hopeless. He knew by forcing Selene to accept their help would push her farther from them; a consequence neither he nor Gaia would intend to happen.

As much as she wanted to grief like her husband was, Queen Gaia went to him before hugging him from behind. Her eyes became wet. She knew her husband was endeavoring himself to be brave not to shred a tear, but seeing how vulnerable he now was arched her down to heart.

"She is dying. Selene is dying, and she declined our help. There is nothing we can do." The queen heard him saying. She didn't bother to forge about her crying as she noticed her husband's fragility. After realizing that she should to be soothing instead of influencing by her husband's emotion, she vigorously brushed off her anxiety, and pulling his face towards her before verbalized unyielding.

"Yes, there is. Serenity is still with us, so do the girls. Selene sent them over to have us watch over them. That will be enough, Solaris. Tranquility will understand. I know he will. I promise."

--End of Chapter 6--

Glossary:  
(1)Byakko: during the Han Dynasty, a white tiger is believed to be the King of all beasts. When a tiger reached 500 years old, its tail would turn white. Byakko represents direction West and Autumn season, and the element it holds is Mental. Tokaki (Foot), Tataro (Lasso), Ekie (Stomach), Subaru (Unity), Amefuri (Net), Toroki (Snout) and Kagasuki (Visiting) are its constellations.

(2) Seiryu: is an azure dragon, which has the symbol of an Emperor's power. The guardian of the East is connected with season Spring, and its element is Water. The 7 stars are Suboshi (Horn), Amiboshi (Throat), Tomo (Root), Soi (Chamber), Nakago (Heart), Ashitare (Tail) and Miboshi (Basket).

(3) Genbu: depicted as snake coiling around a tortoise. The tortoise and the snake are the symbolism of longevity in ancient China. It protects North, is corresponds to season Winter, and the element is Earth. Its 7 stars includes Hikitsu (Dipper), Inami (Ox), Uruki (Woman), Tomite (Void), Umiyama (Rooftop), Hatsui (Room) and Namame (Wall).

(4) Suzaku: Vermilion bird is a mythology spirit creature in Chinese constellation. The guardian of South has the element of Fire, and is represents season Summer. Like the others, it has 7 stars, and they are Chichiri (Well), Tamahome (Orge), Nuriko (Willow), Hotohori (Star), Chiriko (Net), Tasuki (Wings) and Mitsukake (Chariot).

(5) is a term used for a man who is once married gone back home after working, and often stays at home with his family when he is off from work.

(6) that's the distance from Earth to Moon

* * *

Cdgal: If you have realised, I adapted the names of the quadrants and their constellations from Watase Yuu's famous work, Fushigi Yuugi (otherwise known as the Mysterious Play) and Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden. Thanks to wikipedia search that I've managed to get the information I need.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: This is absolutely, definitely, positively, undeniably an original work by me... exclude the characters

-- Chapter 7--

"No," the Terrain Prince moaned in his sleep. The restless sleeping prince was in his dream trying to reach for a certain figure who, was gradually out from his reach.

"Do not leave." he called out. But the figure couldn't hear him; instead the silhouette continued to disparate in the mist. At his final shout, which was a 'no', he startled from his sleep panting heavily. Although he couldn't see clearly the face of the unknown figure, but deep down in his heart, he was acquainted to who the mysterious person was.

"God, why are you doing this to me?" the prince was infuriated. He wished he could waive away the enchantment that struck hard on him 2 days ago. Much to his irritation, his memory wouldn't let him. He knew it was a lie if he denied not having a nudge from within when he caught a glimpse of her up on the balcony.

As far as he was concerned, love was a cruel thing: it hurt people and could even ruin a sane person. He didn't believe in love as he had witnessed far too many falls in relationships. He had watched how the participants wounded in the game of love, and he was refused to be one of the victims. Numerous times he had been advised by the wounded soldiers in love battlefields that he should be listening to the head instead of the heart, something that he had agreed on his all 10 digits. So when the said enigma came to someone who disregarded love at first sight, such as him, the one that he had to pay the price with was his once peaceful life.

"Could it be that I have fallen for the princess?" he asked himself in the room of darkness. The great silent made no movement to answer him, but a gentle night breeze brushing through his face as if responding him with a 'yes'. If he had never been told lies before, then this would be his first to be in the state of denial - something he was getting better and better at.

"No, that could not be it." Prince Endymion stood on his ground with a determination he didn't realize he was holding when a ghostly whispering came to manipulate him even more. "I do NOT have a feeling for her. There is no way that I fall for her. No, I can not, and I will not. "

Nevertheless, the question was: did he have any choice at all? No.

* * *

Prince Endymion was up before the sun could. Normally he would brighten his day by welcoming its fresh air, but today, he felt like it would be very much the opposite of what he had for his usual mornings. At this moment, all he could feel was blue and grumpy and nothing else. Couldn't get back to sleep after numerous attempts were one of the causes for the mood change, but that was only a minor thing. It was the image of Princess Serenity that stupefied him was the worst and the most scaring part of all. For some reasons, he couldn't forget her ghostly smile when she watched them above from her balcony. He couldn't look away at the sight of her sparkling hair dancing gracefully with the same breeze that brushed past he face. Even her slight movement like pushing her hair back to her left ear would haunt him for eternity. Imagine how exotic she would be if he saw her bodice clinging on her delicate skin with his own eyes. And her long slender legs...

'I have better stop it,' the 6'2 tall prince thought. Yes, he had better stop replaying the image over and over again before he got carried away and leading him to more restless nights. After pulling himself getting off the bed, he moved to the bathroom and decided to freshen up his day by having a very cold shower. Within an hour and half later, he was done with his morning chores - he had gotten shower, dressed in his riding attire and finished up his breakfast - and now he was on his way to the stable. That was where Helios was.

Helios was a horse. He was handsome, but very short-tempered. No one could get near to him nor could tame him, saved for his master. Prince Endymion Earl Elysian of Earth, the future King of Elysian Realm. Helios was very proud of his thick white fur, which many horses were envied of. Although he wasn't a pure breed, but with his speed many people assumed him to be one. He had lived under a harsh life once. Back then the abundance by his previous owners led Helios to distrust no one, including his current master, but no matter how deep the wound was it would heal over time. Prince Endymion had showed him a different face of mankind with great patience, and his life was forever changed since.

Unlike those young spirited ones, Helios waited obediently as his master came into view. If he was a human being, his facial expression right now would be one of those who was waiting for someone to fall into a bobby trap. That was just the true nature of a sadist.

While the prince taking his precious time getting to his destination, someone was already there before him. It was the subject of his thought; a certain princess was beside Helios brushing his mane expertly.

"He is beautiful." she commented while continued her brushing. She then turned to the prince, who was currently immobile, and asked. "Or is it a she?"

Aware that the princess was waiting for an answer, Prince Endymion shook his head to force certain imagine out from his mind. He didn't want to admit he had once again been captivated by her beauty. Despite it was the beginning of the winter solstice, he could feel a radiant heat emitted from within. Something he couldn't identify, but he was positive it wasn't of desire.

"It is a he." he found himself answering as he moved closer to where the beauty and the beast where. He was oblivious to his beating heart thumping louder and louder by his ear as he heard her almost inaudible 'oh'. For the first time he came to a realization that she had a voice of an angel, but the thought went as soon as it came. Now a pair of young royalties stood on each side of the creature as an awkward of silence resumed.

* * *

An hour ago, the bed ridden Princess Serenity had trouble going back to sleep. She had a dream. A dream about her witnessing the sun rise at a place she had never been to. The place itself was a paradise. There were less brilliant and less intense hues of yellow, orange and red above the horizon in the East. Below the invisible line there laid a hazzy image of infrastructure and a stream in the heart of the town. The feeling of how comforting the warmth of the sun was on her face didn't die away even if she had awakened from her slumber. Whether there was person standing beside her, she couldn't remember. Even if there was, she couldn't remember the face of the person. Everything including who the person was and her acquaintance to the person was nothing but a puzzle to her.

There was variety of reasons as to why she didn't have a peaceful sleep. It wasn't new to her as this was not her first time to have sleepless nights. Her mother, aka the ruler of the Moon Kingdom, was one major cause. They had been contacted occasionally through their very own special way. Only some small population of the Silver Millennium bore such special powers, though not all had the same powers as the other had. The Lunar Royalty although held almost no power but they were the most powerful ones, compared to the other alliances, such as Mercury and Jupiter.

Queen Selene held a mystical stone that everyone wished to behold of. It was a stone that held unlimited powers. It was also the same stone that would disrupt the equilibrium of the galaxy if it fell into the wrong hands. That stone was called the Maboroshi Ginsuizou (1). However, there was an ultimate flaw in the said stone. The beholder had to sacrifice his or her energy when activating its power; and if a wish was to grant using by the full potential of the crystal, it was the life of the user was its price.

The daughter, on the other hand, had no other special ability, other than telepathy link and spell incantations. Since the princess was a novice to her abilities, ancient spell books was her only teacher as spell incantatory was very rare in Silver Millennium. Even though the telepathy had been passed down through generations to generations, but its weak stability was the most irritated thing to the young princess. There were even times that she couldn't telepathy with her mother, despite that the Queen herself had the same ability as she had. It was much sufficient to write letters, but the delivery usually took months to send and receive. Therefore, both the queen and the princess had come to a conclusion before the trip to Earth that they would telepathy each other monthly. Now one and half months had passed, and the princess did try to contact her mother using the telepathy link as they had promised, but there was no news on the other end.

Another reason was of her dreams. Recently, she had been dreaming quite alot till she lost count. Every sequence of the dreams might not be the same, but two figures would still remain. One figure, she took account of, was herself, and another figure was unknown to her. She even couldn't pick up which gender the silhouette was, and every time she tried to unveil the identity, she had awoken up.

A normal person would regard a dream was a mere dream, but not for Serenity Selene Serena. At first she thought what she dreamt was all a dream, until recent years ago she started to have doubts. It all started from one restless night when she was still very young. She hadn't realized she was watching the argument that erupted between her 2 closest friends, Princess Rei of Mars and Princess Makoto of Jupiter, through her dreams. How the fight had started and what it was about she didn't know even if it had been 10 years passed. None of them had ever brought the topic up.

3 days after her dream, a 5 year old Serenity was at a private garden having a royal picnic with her family and friends. She and Luna, who was a lady in waiting at that moment as well as her guardian, were the only one surrounded by delicious delicacies enjoying the moment of peace, when suddenly the little princess heard an argument. Looking up, she curiously went investigating where that interruption would have come from.

Not far from the distance, Princess Rei Rae Raye and Princess Makoto Manny Moore had a fierce heat of conversation that aroused them into a fight they were currently engaged to. They didn't aware that the more they argued, the louder they got. 2 princesses from Mars and from Jupiter would have begun their kicking and punching if it wasn't for a certain princess who jumped into the pit of fire.

"Rei chan? Mako chan?" the chubby princess questioned with her big curious eyes. She looked at them while mentioning their names. Minutes before that, the Moon Princess found herself watching her 2 best friends engaging in a dispute she didn't know about, so she did what she thought it was for the best - she walked right into in. What came next was not what she had expected. The pair, instead of ignoring, busted into laughter after facing the innocence princess simultaneously.

At the other end, Luna had gone to search for the missing princess. She had only turned her head less than 3 minutes and when she looked back, the princess was no where to be found. Almost hysterically, the young maiden began her search. By the time the missing princesses were discovered, Princess Rei and Princess Makoto were on the ground laughing so hard that they failed to hear the shriek from the young guardian who gradually fainted on the spot. As for the poor Princess Serenity, she was left clueless with a pout on her crumble food-coated face.

When telling someone as young as a 5 year old that she had experienced a déjà vu (2), it was like explaining how an apple fell from the tree. She would nod her head implying that she understood, but then it flew out from her head completely the moment her head was turned. As Princess Serenity grew older, the numbers of experiencing déjà vu increased. Déjà vu vu, déjà vu vecu (3) and déjà visité (4), she experienced them all, although they weren't as frequent as her friends came to visit her. Even Princess Ami couldn't find an appropriate explanation to the condition as the Moon Princess didn't have brain disorder, also she wasn't being paranoid. Because of that, the princess, wore in odango style, often had a second thought whether the events were for real or were one of her dreams. Never would she thought in much later the day that she indeed had experienced another déjà visité.

Pulling herself away from the old memories, the princess stood up, with her sleepiness now all gone. Moving on to her right, the only thing she could see from the window was everything a pitch black outside. Her friends would call her bluff if she was to tell them she was up before the sun rise. For someone who couldn't come on time for breakfast and morning sessions, they were right about calling her a liar. Since she could no longer get back to sleep, she decided to go any place where her legs could take her. During the early exploration, she hadn't make a single mental note except for wrapping herself more into the winter robe she was wearing outside her pajamas. Never had she been this cold back in her home... Correction: never had she been this freaking cold in her life before.

The journey seemed endless to her as the Moon Princess wandered the grand palace carelessly. She had lost count how many turns and rooms there were since her departure from her chamber. All she knew was the palace was enormous, and one could lose his or her way if the person was unfamiliar to the place. One very good example was her. She got lost, and there was no one to help her. It was not theirs to blame because she had woke up before 6 in the morning. If she read her shadow correctly, it had only been half an hour since her wake. Good thing was she wasn't hungry, and it was all thanks to her occupied thoughts. Otherwise she would throw a tantrum at anyone or anything that came into her way, and she didn't want that to be happened. The thing was she wasn't that kind of person.

After some minutes of wandering around, Princess Serenity took one of the exits that the luminous night shone bright the most. She realized it was a Tongue and Groove wood stall barn the moment she walked out from the maze. The soft noise from the horses was the proof how right she was.

'So, that exit leads to where these beautiful creatures are.' the princess kept the information in heart as she turned her head to the direction where she had just walked out from. After getting close to the barn, she then walked passed each stall discreetly as possible as she didn't want to disturb their peace more than she already had. She was fascinated not only at the numbers of the horses that available there, but also at their diverse array of coat colors. She had heard from Princess Ami of Mercury once that Earth, especially Elysian favored them. She too had heard from her friend that Elysian had a wide variety of horses, but to see them personally was like having angels welcomed her with open wings. Many did catch her attention, but she didn't stop walking except for one. The horse had the color of an angel. It is the color that every bride would like to have for her wedding. It is also the same color that represented purity, innocence and sacredness. That color is beginning with a W, and the letters that followed are h, i, t and e. W-h-i-t-e. White. (5)

Princess Serenity reached out one of her hand curiously, yet timidly. She didn't want to scare the creature away; neither did she want to coax it biting her out-stretching fingers. Her hand stopped mid way, waiting for a rejection, but the horse didn't move a muscle. Courageously, the princess dared to move further in. Finally, her fingers made contact with its mane.

"Your mane is so soft, and beautiful." the princess told the horse, but the latter snorted her compliment away by turning his head to one side. Yet he let her to continue her motion. The princess didn't notice they had company, but the white horse did through the corner of his eye, though he said nothing. Not even a warning. Why would he ruin it when he had a show to watch? Only a foolish person would do something like that, and he, Helios, definitely wasn't the one.

Very unfortunately, the princess didn't look so surprise when the person chose to reveal himself. Or better yet, it was the princess who ruined the fun. "He is beautiful." the princess had said. How would she know it was his master that was behind the shadow?

Truthfully told, Princess Serenity herself didn't know the answer to the question either. She just had this feeling that there was someone behind her, and this someone was none other than her betrothed and her future husband. A certain prince whom initial was an E.

'This is all what you got?' Helios yelled in frustration. If the answer was a 3 letter word - Y.E.S - then he wanted to cry out really loud, and right directly towards their ears too. Royalty or not, he would have kick their butts if only he got legs like his master and the girl next to him. The pair had said nothing else other than 'it is a he' and an 'oh'. That was real unbelievable, and here he thought human was the most intellectual of all species. Guess he was wrong about these two.

"I am surprised," the rich dark haired prince found his lips moving. Although he couldn't see the person from the other side of the horse, but he could feel she was listening earnestly. "Helios is a very sensitive horse. He is very cautious to his surrounding; even I had spent nearly a year to gain his trust to get close with him."

The princess spoke no word. She was, instead, pondering on what he told her. If she hadn't known, she would have thought that he, the horse, was friendly enough to let her mould him.

"He is nice."

"I can see that."

A comfortable silence came followed by a comment (from the princess) and a slight smile (from the prince). This was the change of tension the pair took no noticed of. Their eyes swayed everywhere from the ground to the horse, and the only place they didn't make eye contact was on each other. Princess Serenity was scrutinizing on Helios' mane. Tangled or not, her motion on Helios didn't stop; Prince Endymion was, on the other hand, fighting to himself from time to time to stop his fidgeting. Never had both adolescences been this close contact before, and what stood between them was Helios, an additional salt to the predicament they were in. To say they were anxious was an understatement. No word could describe their current emotions, but to feel their racing hearts. It was as if they had an exam in the next minute.

"He is the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

"Likewise," he agreed, only he wasn't referring to Helios. To his relief, the Moon Princess didn't grasp the meaning behind his word. He confessed that Helios was indeed a beau, but it was nothing compared to the creature that stood a horse apart from him. Beside, he couldn't deny about the fact that she had gotten prettier every time they stumbled into each other. If only he could touch the skin underneath that robe...

Prince Endymion of Earth mentally cursed himself for having such an ecchi (6) thought. He wished he could let out his frustration out by banging his head repetitively onto Helios, but held the temptation to it. He didn't want to give the horse a fright, either to give his betrothed thinking that he was having epilepsy. With a determination, he made a reminder to himself that he needed to figure out why he hadn't been himself recently.

On the other side, Princess Serenity was having an internal battle with herself. She wanted to say something, but her throat seemed malfunction today. Even her mind was in off mode. Filled with curiosity, she stole a peek sideway, and then turned away to inhale a quick breath before he could catch her in action.

The sound of hearts thumping followed by a frigid of silence between the royalty duos, and they only moved themselves when the light diminishing from the stable. From the reflection from his watch, the time told Prince Endymion that it was already past 6 in the morning. Out of blue, a sense of alertness hit him hard. Never did he notice that his sudden reaction had brought the attention to the princess.

"Care to ride with me?" he asked while getting his riding gear ready.

The princess wanted to decline, but the young man who soon to be her husband gave her no time to reject. Once Prince Endymion pushed himself up onto Helios, he extended his hand to her. Having no other option, she reluctantly accepted his offer before letting him pulled herself up, and settling herself a spot in front of him. Together they rode away.

The pair exchanged nothing more than "where are we going?" and "you will see." along their way. They continued to ride, until the prince pulled a rein on Helios, hauling him to stop. After jumping down, he turned around and, like before, he offered a hand to help the princess getting down from the horse. He then tied Helios to a big tree where there was a pond for him to drink for thirst. Once he did that, he led the princess to a bush walking as caution as he could, and as slow as he could. He didn't want to get encircled by unnecessary questions, such as why the princess was all torn up, when they got back.

By the time they reached to the top, the unhurt princess followed the leading prince to more bushes, where it eventually led them to a valley. Everything was blurry due to the morning mist. Then out of blue, the prince made a count down as he read his watch.

"10." his sudden count down earned a questioning look from the silver haired princess. 'This is another thing I want to show it to you to.' was his reason before counting the number 9.

"8." he called out the same moment the princess shot him a 'What are you planning?' look.

"7." he shot back a reassurance look - 'You just wait. It will be good, I promise.' - to the princess beside him.

"6." yet that didn't convince the princess.

"5." was his word before the 'Do not look at me. Look below.'

"4." the princess looked at him even more confused, but she complied anyhow.

"You just wait." he had said before counting the number 3.

"2." and added softly with a 'any moment now.'

"1."

As if on cue, the sun glided itself to reveal its light for the world to see. It was as if to say 'I am finally free.' They witnessed the first sun rise together. It was so beautiful. The colour of yellow and red mixing together formed the most extraordinary color. If the word 'beauty' was to describe the atmospheric phenomena, then the word for the following scene would be breathtaking. The pair watched how the twilight of the sun rise did its magic trick. They saw the mist slowly faded away, then the revelation of the village of Elysian. They got to watch its people preparing for works, loaded their stuff onto horses and rode away. The reflection of the stream, that provided the strength and the life force to the people of the kingdom, showed that the harmonious village was living under an unpolluted environment, and was away from threats.

The prince had asked something, but the princess could no longer hear him. The fact that she was stunned, dumbstrucked and jaw dropped wasn't because of the beauty, but because of the scenery itself. The scene they were looking down below clicked inside her mind. She had seen this view before. It was exactly the same as the one in her dream. The same twilight, the same mist, the busy village and the same crystal clear stream. Despite that she had foresaw them from her dream, but it couldn't compare with the real thing she was currently seeing and feeling. It was beyond the word she could describe.

Prince Endymion was more than satisfied with the response he received from Princess Serenity. He was feeling grateful that they now had a connection, although it wasn't strong, but was enough for him to remember for a lifetime. Nothing was more important than this new born bonding. Nothing.

* * *

Destiny is something cannot be controlled, yet at the same time is undetermined. It can be changed just by one push, but sometimes it does not changed at all. Time, events, efforts and the number of people involved do play the part in this whirlpool, but not significantly; yet at the same time, they are the keys to unlock the door to the untold path that eventually lead to an unknown future.

In the case where the prince and the princess were at now, it seemed that it was Helios who pulled the string and brought them together. However, if he wasn't to witness princess prior to the day and had dreamt of her, Prince Endymion would not have decide to go to stable to refresh his mind at such an early morning. As for Princess Serenity's part, if she hadn't decided to take a fresh air for a piece of mind, she wouldn't have meet Helios and that leading her to the prince.

Previously, the friends to both parties had been trying so hard to get them together, but their efforts didn't pay off. As a matter of fact, it failed miserably and was disastrous. That was the trick the fate was playing. Needlessly to say, it was a happy beginning for our favourite couple, and this was how their real story begun...

--End of Chapter 7--

Glossary:  
(1) is the Silver Crystal, aka the Illusional Silver Crystal.

(2) "is the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously (an individual feels as though an event has already happened or has happened in the near past)"

[Wikimedia Foundation. Inc. 2008, Deja Vu, viewed 5 November 2008, .org/wiki/Deja_vu]

(3) simply put is "already lived through"

[Deja Vu Survey, viewed 5 November 2008, /dejavu/]

(4) in short, it means "already visited"

[Deja Vu Survey, viewed 5 November 2008, /dejavu/]

(5) according to the research I found in various articles, when a horse is white it means that it has white hair coat but with a pink skin. Since there is no white horse, and the one that has the pure white look in most cases is a middle-aged or older gray horse.

(6) refer to 'pervert'

* * *

Cdgal: the memory part, about the quarrel between Rei and Makoto, the princess was derived from my own experience. It was based on a true story, and I somehow altered it into this version I wrote. Furthermore, the one I've written about "Destiny" was my personal philosophy and understanding.

To those who think that's the end of the story; sorry to burst your bubble, because it's no way close to end. Like I said earlier, I work while brainstorming. I've decided to split the story into 4 parts, but let's keep that a secret, shall we? Regardless, I will reveal nothing but to tell you all this that this will be a long running story.

Please stay tune ^o^


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I wish Sailor Moon was mine. If only my wish would come true...

--Chapter 8--

Knock. Kock.

Prince Endymion looked up from a pile of paper works at the sound of the knocking at his private study room. Signing treaties from alliance countries and fortnightly patrons were not something new, even though he could get tired from facing those unlimited amount of dull duties, but his responsibilities as a prince and the future king could not be forgotten. Those were the burdens, he had learnt over his rebelling period, to place on his shoulders; however, looking on the bright side, he and the Moon Princess had came to an understanding. In rare occasions, they were seen drowning in their own private jokes, and were often witnessed having enjoyed each other's company. Those were the changes he, too, could not be neglected. He believed such acquaintance was a good sign in his life, and assuming her, too shared the same thought.

A thought was hardly a fact, unfortunately, for the royal pair would not consider themselves as an item, despite that they had gotten close and cared for each other deeply for every moment that passed. The prince did feel the chemistry, but denied full throttle that it was not the affection like his friends and guardians had said to him.

"We are merely a friend." he disputed, only to be scorned off by them. In the end he gave up correcting their choice of word and let them believed what they believed since none would believe him, their prince. The irking prolonged even at his sleeping hour, and last night was no exception.

He, in order to escape from his four horrid friends, decided to work to keep him occupied the following day, and he did for four hours straight. He had not known he had been working for such long hour if it was not for the knocking.

'Who would be interrupting at such moment?' he asked himself as he gazed at his watch. He tracked down his memory but found no leads. Not wasting any more time, he called out "enter" loud enough for the person behind that door to hear it.

Prince Endymion was a type of person who was not easily surprised, but today he utterly was. His visitor, as it turned out to be, was his third cousins once removed. He had a stunning black hair, a trait apparently inherited from his great-great-great grandfather, Grand Duke of Kinmoku, which it was long enough for him to tie up in a pony tail. Although he was not as talented and skillful as his almost perfect cousin, but he had an upper hand on his charming looks and a six packs from all the training he did for the past eight years. Being his junior by two years, the lord seldom misinterpreted as someone he was not, a womanizer and a heart breaker. Seiya Kou was the name of the charismata.

"Hello, cousin."

"Seiya!" the future king stood up from his seat without a thought. He was then promptly pulled to a hug, a gesture that was beginning to give him nerves.

"How have you been?" he returned the welcome with equal warmth. What this Seiya person did not know was that underneath that mask lied a hideous promise about barring hugging was the first thing he do if he was to ascend to the throne.

That greeting initialized their we-have-a-lot-of-catching-up-to-do talk. The thought on the new development friendship with the princess was all temporarily forgotten as he and Seiya chatted all their way from pillars after pillars of corridor. The cousins would have continue their chatter if it was not for a fuming general, who they met on the midway of their unknown destination, running along the corridor almost colliding.  
"Good afternoon, Jadeite." Seiya greeted, and he and Endymion shared a questioning look before wandered back to the unresponsive general. The young noble tried several more attempts and it was finally on his fifth call did the general drawn back to earth.

For General Jadeite, he could not help to breathe a 'huh?' before thinking hard why here he stood was crowded with his fellow generals all of the sudden. It took him another five minutes to register who greeted him.

"Lord Seiya! Wh-Why are you here?"

"For what reason I cannot be here?" Seiya asked with his eye brows titled aside.

"That was not what I mean," Jadeite was so nervous that he did not realize he was sputtering. "What I meant was..."

"Chill out." Seiya cut in, "I was just teasing, you know."

The general gaped like a fish for a long time before let out a sigh of relief. Such change of attitude did not go unnoticed by the cousins.

"What is the matter?" Endymion did not voice out his concern because his cousin had beaten him to it. The blood-related duo did once ask the remaining comrades, only to receive a negative answer along their way. There was another reason why he let Seiya had the honor was because his guts told him so. He was ninety-nine percent certain that it had something to do with a certain hot tempered princess.

"I would not hear any of it unless I have seated with a cup of coffee." the other two nodded in agreement to Kunzite's comment. Apparently they all thought alike: everyone had a hectic day, and knowing Jadeite, he would take hours and hours complaining who was at fault, and for majority of them definitely was not his. It was either that or upgrading a version up on how adorable his princess was. Judging by his expression, it seemed that the former had a higher vote.

"Can you believe it?" was the first word that came out from Jadeite's lip after the group of six young men found their respective seats at the parlor. Afternoon tea (1) had been running inside the Palace back in the late Seventeenth Century, everyone, excluding Endymion, could not be merrier to sustain the custom. It was Seiya's first time to experience the tradition, and was seemed enjoying himself as well as enjoying each other's company. It had been more than a decade since their last encounter, and the distance between planets Kinmoku and Earth, which was 149,600,000 km (2), made no easy job for a regular visit. That was why he treasured each spending moment. It was not until recent years he was to thrown into cadet trainings and social mobility, making the traveling even more difficult.

While Seiya was, by heart, seeing green at the strong bonding in his cousin and fellow generals, Endymion, on the other hand, was gritting his teeth indistinctly on how his noble cousin managed to balance his heavy duties with such a laid out personality. He yearned to learn the secret from his cousin, but keeping silence was more to his nature. Thus, he did nothing but to enjoy the rest of his day by sipping his own black coffee.

Seiya was utterly confused as Jadeite kept pressing on 'Ray' this and 'Ray' that. He was so positive that the general was making a complaint, but why was it every time it reached to his ears was a complete different thing? It sounded like he was declaring his affection to this 'Ray' when the name was explicitly a guy's name. Leaning in to his cousin's ear, Seiya asked with his oddest expression.

"Is he a homosexual?"

Prince Endymion did chock on his drink as soon as the question came out. He then corrected him after having regained his composure saying that it was Rei, as in a lady's name, before went on to give a little history background. There was only a person's name he had coincidentally left out was the name of the Moon Princess. He did not understand why he could not bring up such an easy word - 'Serenity'. The name was heavily swallowed back the name to his throat for every attempt he made and that puzzled him because he did trusted Seiya wholeheartedly by sharing his trouble thoughts and inquiring for opinions. Such trivial did not occupy his thought for long as he and his cousin went on to their own discussion...

... And then suddenly -

"Are you two listening?"

Caught red-handed, both the prince and the lord recomposed their postures before chorusing quickly a "Yes, we are." They were lucky the general did not press further but to continue his complains, not to mention dramatically. The pair appreciated their bond as brotherhood grew stronger, but one thing beyond their expectation was it was about to put to test.

----------

The sound of running footsteps could hear echoing along the main hall. It was not from the royal guards or any of the patrolling generals who was intruding the peaceful night. It was, rather, a figure in black cloak moving swiftly, looking out for any sign of presences before moving inside the palace. This was neither its first nor second time for sneaking out and arriving back three hours later. The figure had been fortunate that it had yet been caught, and thought that tonight would be another lucky night. As it turned up, it did not go accordingly to plan.

Lord Seiya had, out of blue, offered to help patrolling for the night. It was supposed Motoki's (3) job, but since Seiya had asked for it, who was he to argue with? It was very improper to disobey someone who held a higher status. Besides, he was trilled to be home reunited with his beautiful fianc e, Reika, after all those years of absence.

While patrolling outside the palace, Seiya s mind was wandering off slightly. He was curious of the guests before him. As much as he was eager to meet who had captured the generals' heart, he could not afford to have a distraction now. Speaking of it, he stopped to hear vigilantly at the sound of a commotion.

"Who is there?" he inquired with narrowing eyes. What greeted him was stillness. He lingered to examine his surrounding thoroughly, and his expression did not alter once it was over. He swore it was not his imagination. With a determination, he decided to push his questioning until the morning as it was two hours before the dawn.

----------

Princess Rei, before coming out from her room, had getting all dressed up. She was not in good mood for two reasons: the weather was getting cold, and she had not gotten over her conflict with General Jadeite. On top of that, she and her princess friends were running late to meet their tour guides.

"Has she forgotten we have places to visit to?" Rei tapped her feet impatiently, while waiting for a response from the other side of the door.

A tour was arranged by Prince Endymion for his guests after realizing they had not accustomed meaning with Terran cultural during their stay. It had been planned a month ago, but did not approve until yesterday. It was scheduled today at nine in the morning, but for the past fifteen minutes, Princess Serenity showed no sign of awakening.

"Let her sleep," Ami reasoned, "the attempts to telepathy with the Queen must have worn her out."

Makoto nodded in agreement. All of them could see how worried Serenity was when her telepathy link failed. It was only two nights ago did she eventually got connected with her mother. They were there when it happened, and were relieved that the princess was no longer in the state of depression.

Minako, on the other hand, gave a yawn. She, like Serenity, was not a morning person. She would have sleep through the morning if it was not for the knocking on her door. She helped herself with another yawn as Rei continued to knock on the unresponsive door.

'It was just so Rei. She would not give up, would she?' the princess in big red bow thought. Flocking her attention back and forth from Rei then to the door, she asked daringly.

"Can I go back to sleep?"

What she received was an earful of a "No!!!"

----------

Meanwhile at the main hall, there stood a Seiya, Endymion and two of his generals, Kunzite and Jadeite, who were engaging in their topic of conversation while waiting for the girls. Their topic of conversation did not include last night's suspicious event as Seiya had determined to carry a self-operate investigation tonight; even though his original thought was 'It could be a false alarm'. Neither of the men was curious of the other two generals' absence. They knew Zoisite and Nephrite well that they would not abandon their lessons for the sake of their guests. That would regard as dishonor and irresponsibility.

Precisely at that moment, they were interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. The men turned to the direction, where it gradually revealed four planetary princess, who then mumbled their apologies as soon as they had calmed down from their rapid breathing. Kunzite, brought up as a gentleman, kindly reassured the girls that they were, too, arrived not long ago.

"Where is the princess?" the general asked. While both Endymion and Jadeite pretended to be occupied in their thoughts and fingers respectively, while Seiya, on the other hand, was questioning himself 'who else had I missed?' He could easily differentiated who was who from their respective attires: Ami in blue, Rei in red, Makoto in emerald and finally Minako in orange.

Ami volunteered to give the explanation as none would do any better: Rei was still refused to speak unless it was necessary; Makoto was drawn into her own thought thinking about Seiya how he looked like her old crush; and Minako, she was yawning from time to time.

As soon as the lord and the girls finished their introduction, the tour began without much ado. It went uninterrupted with Endymion paid the least attention. The prince had not realized himself concerning for a certain princess, who was missing from the group. He could not help wondering whether or not she was all right, following by a self debate whether or not to see her himself to reassure she was perfectly fine.

There was another person who had not pay attention to was Seiya. His mind was, too, filled with his own questions, except that his subject of thought was different to his royal cousin. It was not of someone he had been thinking about throughout the tour, but rather it was of last night's event. To ascertain he had no problem in hearing, he had to formulate a strategy for safety precaution, which also meant that tonight was his second night to do patrolling.

----------

Midnight came as the moon hung up high in the darkened sky. The night was so cold that even the stars had to hide behind the protective clouds. None of the living organism was willing to go out from their shelters, saved for one inside the palace. It was the same figure from last night in the same cloak, and so was the time it returned back into the castle.

Seiya had been patrolling at the same spot for an hour now, but that did not mean that he should let his guard down. Not only all of his five senses were in high alert, but he was also in preparation for any unannounced action. It was then he heard someone moving distantly.

Following the echoing noise, he discovered that it was from the palace. A warning bell accelerated in his mind, and without hesitation, he hastened his pace. Turning to a corner, he saw a shadow at the thirteenth pillar, but before he could advance forward, it disappeared from his sight.

"Stop!" Seiya warned, but the silhouette did not hear him. Instead, it quickened its pace. The sudden movement did not matter with the lord, however, because he could easily catch up with his long legs; and when he did, he pulled the shadow by its elbow roughly. He had expected the figure under his captured would struggle for an escape, but in the next minute he did the unexpected thing: he loosened his iron grip.

His carelessness had bought enough time for the figure in cloak to make an opportunity flee, but that did not matter to him. What stupefied him the most was he had caught a glimpse of something silver.

----------

The first thing Princess Serenity did as soon as she was inside her room was leaning on the door after had the door locked. Her quick gasps showed no sign of slowing down; rather it followed the rhythm of her beating heart. It was a close call, and if it was not for an unknown distraction, she would not be here. Once she had thanked her prayer in silence, she stepped away from the door. Not realizing her hood had fallen back to reveal her long silver hair, she walked straight to her bed and slumped back.

She had not forgotten her previous lesson on night scouting, which was why she was frightened out before she could reach the palace wall. Tonight was not her first attempt to overcome her fear, but nothing seemed to be working as the event on that terror night evaded her mind repeatedly.

Turning around, Serenity hid her face into the pillow. She had forced herself to sleep each night, only making it worst by thinking over and over again of the mistake she once had made.

'If only I could turn back the time,' she thought. It was true to her word that if only she was not that curious, then none of those would happen. It was because of that mistake, she was force to keep a secret she should not have, especially from her best and closest friends. Because of it, she became less conservative and optimistic like she used to be. Despite of how many if-onlys and because-of-its there were, she was very well understood that the fact that turning back time was even though possible but forbidden as she had once overheard her mother had asked Sailor Pluto to revive her husband, who had died in the Great War (4) when she was really young.

The princess might not know King Tranquility well, but she did know a Sailor Pluto. She was the guardian of time stream. She had a staff, Garnet Rod, which held a power to open a portal, and a key to allow the user to travel to different dimensions. She was the next strongest and the most powerful person after Queen Selene, who had the legendary Maboroshi Ginsuizou. If the crystal's power was overused, the Queen might lead up to her own death; in her case, on the other hand, would be the Forbidden Doors in the stream of time. As its guardian, there were two doors she could never be interfered with were: Reviving the dead and Turning back time.

Hours had passed, and sleep did not claim the crying princess until the moon had rose and was shone at its brightest.

--End of Chapter 8--

Glossary:  
(1) coffee is included for a purpose

(2) is the distance of the Sun

(3) is a royal guard, who played a minor role in this story. I am sorry about it because I could not think of a new name for this particular character; so I used Motoki's.

(4) I don't know what it's called in the original story, but it's the war against Queen Matelia before the story. I haven't decide whether or not to put it into my plot, but the chance is 50-50.

----------

Cdgal: I could not help but to end with suspense here. ^o^

I have more good news than bad one. The good news are, Second Arc: Chapter 1 is completed, with an additional of a chapter of "A Strength Called Friendship" and a new story entitled as "The Magical of Love" are coming on their way. I could not tell how soon, but they are definitely working in progress.

The bad news, on the other hand, is I have decided to discontinue "Love Takes Time". I realized that it was a disappointment because I had came so far, also it had been only a couple more chapters away before the story came to an end. It is dreadful, I know, but I do hope that this will be the only story to be discontinued. However, I give my best shot to come up for more interesting stories and chapters in exchanged for a lost story.

Before I disclosed the chapter, here I would like to give a big thanks to my editors, both actively and inactively, for spending their time helping me with my stories. I am much appreciated, and I know just by thanking you may not be enough, but still, "Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: The plot, Tranquility, Gaia and Solaris are mine; the rest is belonging to Takeuchi Naoko and other associations.

-- Chapter 9 --

Running footsteps could be heard echoing along the corridor at quarter to twelve noon. An hours ago, the runner did not realized she had slept through the morning, and when she did, she quickly took a bath, pulled a dress from her wardrobe and applied some make up for a natural look before rushing out with a loud slam. She was in luck that her locks did not get caught during the process, but what she did not know was that bad luck usually came after it. By the time she noticed, the damage was already done.

Bam!

"Ouch!" cried Serenity. Her collision with the wall of a body was the best demonstration of a circumstantial luck, which inevitable led her having her bottom kissing the floor.

"My apology," said a voice from overhead. However, the princess was not in mood to hear a word for she was already late for her appointment with the girls along with the prince and his generals.

"You..." she left her word uncompleted as she looked up. To her, the person leaning over her was a new face, yet somehow there was a sense of familiarity. She was very convinced that it was only recently she had seen that face, but could not place exactly where she had seen it.

"Are you all right?" the same voice asked.

Serenity, who had been drooling for the diva, quickly recomposed herself by accepting his outstretching hand to allow him to pull her on her feet. Feeling his gaze on her, the princess did what she could: she averted away and suddenly became all nervous.

"I believe we have not meet," he began to say after Serenity mumbled her thanks. He could not help but to flash his smile at her shyness. He could not ignore the feeling of having something about her that attracted him very so.

"May I know your name, my beautiful lady?" he did no such thing as flattery. He was merely telling the truth. Never had he seen such a beauty before, it was as if she was emerged from a paint. Her pink blush reflected how innocent she was. The only flaw he found in her was her grace, but that did not matter to him. In his eyes, such imperfect only made her even more human.

"I," she was spluttering at first, but soon such misconduct was replaced with she introduced herself with a courtesy. "I am Serenity."

"And I am Seiya at your service," he did not bow; instead he took her hand and kissed it. His gentleness made the princess blushed furiously. He gave her a smile that would make her tremble on her feet. It was moments later did the pair found themselves engaging in a conversation like they were old friends.

----------

"Where is she?" Rei crossed her arms, tapping her feet impatiently. She could not believe that princess of hers was late again. How could she trust her princess to wake up on her own when she had not once woke up on time? If only she was not late herself, she would have knocked the door down; and not even the super strength Makoto could pull her away if that did happened.

None of the other three planetary princesses volunteered to be the fiery princess's punching bag, so they forged to be temporarily mute. At the same time behind the group of four girls and five boys, the late comers decided to reveal themselves from the corner. The couple did not hasten, rather they continued their way with a slow pace.

Endymion was the first to spot them from the corner of his eyes, but he did not warn the group. It was not until one of his closest friend and general, Kunzite, took noticed of his lack of attention. Following suite, he turned around.

"My Lord?" his uncertainty had succeeded stopping the group from their doings.

"Princess," Rei, who could not linger any longer, said warningly. Much to her dismay, her princess paid no heed to her lectures. Before one of their immature bickering could arise, she heard her princess exclaimed with amusement.

"You did not say you are a lord."

The distraction caused the Martian princess to frown, which was then quickly dissolved into a puff of relief. If the interruption could lighten up her princess, then she would not crush that wish. She really hated to admit this, but laughter suited the princess more. She was their spring of life, their sun and their strength. Without the core, all she lived in was an empty life and what she had was all loneliness. She also believed that her planetary princess friends felt the same way as she did.

"Neither have you said you are a princess."

"Fair enough," Serenity and Seiya shared a laugh at their similarities. Both of them did not aware they were being circled by their friends, which the Prince of Earth did not participate in.

"I see that you two have met," Endymion gritted his teeth unknowingly. He did not like to poke around on people's business, but if his fianc e was involved, that was another story. He was very bothered as to why she affected him so much. Whatever she did, it should not be a matter to him, and yet he did not like male species getting close to her, his cousin included. Although he was not content at their closeness, he let the trip continued according to plan, while he, on the other hand, kept his cool by sending hard glares to Seiya, who constantly received a cold shiver.

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In a general concept, a triangle symbolized a strong bonding; however, it conveyed a different perspective in term of a relationship. The message did not occur to Serenity, Endymion and Seiya as their bond continued to grow stronger. None of them realized a chemistry was about to change in this group of three when days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a month.

For Endymion, he had more cons than pros in the equilibrium of friendship and duty calls. He himself was the most appropriate example to prove his points. He had an intensive duty schedules from traveling across half the globe to attend congress with head leaders to make an appearance in charities and other organizations. He did not mind not able with them because he trusted his cousin would keep the princess accompany in his place. He did feel sorry though, not because of feeling being outcast, but to Seiya when he was supposed to be the host; but it all altered the following night. He became passive all of the sudden. He went rushing spending time with them as soon as he finished his royal duties, regardless how fatigue he felt. He either interrupted the conversation or sat down and listened. There was one thing he would not allow, however, was to leave them alone, and what changed him was all because of a dream.

In his dream, Seiya invited Serenity to visit his planet and she agreed without a second thought. Jealous consumed him as the result, but what burnt him in flame was they did it right in front of him. He neglected the assurance from his conscious saying that it was merely a dream. He even went too far by having an argument with his inner mind.

'You are jealous.'

'There is nothing I am jealous of.'

'Then why are you against it?'

'I am not in disagreement, but she is my guest, and therefore her safety is my responsibility.'

'And Seiya IS your cousin.'

Since that night, he stopped listening to his conscious. Serenity and Seiya were not blind to notice the sudden change in Endymion, but neither of them brought the subject up. The kept the pattern going on until two months before Christmas.

Seiya, who grown fond of the princess over the period, was in labyrinth. He had not known his feeling had shifted to a romantically one even under the hard glares from his cousin. It was only days later did he felt a butterfly in his stomach when he watched Serenity sparked under the cold water. The sight bewitched him almost immediately as he watched the princess danced along the sprinkles, along with her friends after hearing a commotion while patrolling. He found himself rooted on the ground, staring at no one but her solely. She looked like an angel descending from heaven, and a deity whose beauty could not compare with Aphrodite. Reality struck him hard as he realized he was in love. His cousin's unusual behavior was difficult to ignore when the signs were unmistakably the sign of one being in love. He could read the strange way in Endymion on how the prince did not want them to be alone, and yet the way his cousin acted like she was not his matter puzzled him the most.

The next morning he went to confront with Endymion, only to meet with an empty room. The plan to ask how his cousin felt towards the princess had failed, but he was the type of person who was not easily giving up. Just as he was about to leave, a flash of glint reflected at him making him halt at the door. He turned to stare before walking towards the table, where it sat an item he had not expected. He picked it up with curious eyes but quickly placed it back as he heard a rushing footstep closing in.

From his hiding place, Seiya could see Endymion entered the room, looking around as if he was searching for something.

'How strange,' he thought. It was indeed how strange Endymion could forget things when he had a strong memory. He continued to peek on the prince, who stopped at the table to grab his forgotten item, and waited until the door had closed did he come out. He had aware of the lingering look on Endymion's face before putting the item into his pocket, and what confused him was the cause of his cousin wearing such look.

The answer did not reveal until another week passed.

-- End of Chapter 9 --

Cdgal: Sorry, I have the urge to stop there. I'm not going to reveal it, but what I can give you is a hint, and that hint is somewhere on the next chapter of "Cinderella Style".


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